Asian investment in global commercial real estate is on track to reach a new record in 2016, with the Americas the leading target region and Chicago among the top five city targets, according to new research from global property advisor CBRE Group, Inc.

Asian investment in global commercial real estate reached nearly US$27 billion in H1 2016, dominated by Chinese investors who accounted for 60% of the total. Asian outbound investment has multiplied more than ten-fold to $47 billion in 2015 from $4.3 billion in 2009. Approximately 80% of Asian investors’ capital outlay in 2009 was in domestic markets; this proportion has steadily declined in subsequent years, falling to 47% in 2015.

Asian investors showed a strong appetite for U.S. assets in H1 2016 with the Americas ($14.0 billion) accounting for more than half (52%) of outbound investment, followed by EMEA ($6.1 billion / 22%), Asia ($5.4 billion / 20%), and the Pacific ($1.6 billion / 6%).

Chicago placed in the top five markets for Asian outbound investment activity, recording $1.34 billion in H1 2016.

“Chicago features the second-most concentrated inventory of office assets in the country and a number of these assets are trophy quality,” said Blake Johnson, executive vice president with CBRE. “Our longstanding employment drivers remain very diversified, attracting a cross section of companies from across all industry types. When you couple those facts with the unique supply and demand situation at play in the market and the yield premium you can achieve over coastal markets, Chicago is an attractive and secure market in which to place capital, whether foreign or domestic.”

New York ($4.02 billion) was the top destination for Asian outbound investment, followed by London ($4.01 billion), Hong Kong ($2.12 billion), San Francisco ($1.40 billion), and Chicago.